Innovation and investment the keys as HKJC Racecourse Master Plan continues to produce excellent results

08/31/2013

Speaking at a pre-season press briefing at Sha Tin Racecourse today, Saturday 31 August, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges reflected on a successful 2012/13 season for Hong Kong racing and outlined the Club’s continuing investment in facilities moving forward.

Outlining the status of the sport, Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “Hong Kong racing is a major global brand with two internationally renowned racecourses. Sha Tin is one of the leading racecourses in the world and Happy Valley is arguably the world’s most iconic night time racecourse. Our racing continues to attract locals and tourists to Hong Kong’s favourite pastime. We also attract some of the best horsemen and horses in the world – some of those are based here and others come for our world class racing and competitive environment.”

With a record HK$94 billion turnover on racing last season, attendances in excess of 2 million people, the highest for 9 years, and an increase of 8.7% in betting duty to HK$11 billion this year, the trends are positive.

Season 2013/14 is the final year of the latest phase of the Racecourse Master Plan.  Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges outlined his thoughts on the success and the progress: “Enhancing racecourse facilities is only the hardware and the ongoing Racecourse Master Plan project is one side of our ‘Four Components’ Strategy. Of equal importance has been the software side, allowing us successfully to position racing as social entertainment and make good use of technology.”

“The Racecourse Master Plan project is a clear indication of our commitment to taking on the challenges we face and sustaining the growth in horse racing in Hong Kong. The comprehensiveness and complexity of the project, as well as the successes it has achieved, have set the benchmark for other countries.”

However, Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges stressed that the gaming and entertainment industry is more competitive than ever and the Club is well aware of the need to innovate and to connect with its customers. The ibu and the Race Simulator App, which has now had almost 400,000 downloads, are examples of how racing can present itself to those new audiences in an exciting way using technology with which they are familiar.

Mr Richard Cheung, the Club’s Executive Director, Customer and Marketing, outlined the specific developments underway or due for completion this season at both racecourses, which have a significant focus on different segments of the public and refreshing outdated facilities for Members.

Happy Valley, he revealed, will increase its prominence as a popular social hub following a rise in attendances last season, with further upgrades to Young Members facilities and the Winning Post restaurant.

Sha Tin has undergone extensive renovations, including a state-of-the-art new Members Betting Hall. In addition, the Pak Sing Restaurant has gone through a major revamp, turning it into a more comfortable and stylish location for the public. The Shatin Gallery is the first tailored venue for less experienced customers, with the aim of nurturing their racing interest.

“We have experienced great success with our strategic positioning of the Racecourse Master Plan projects.  The new venues opened in the past few years have proved to be extremely popular.  The focus in Members venues this season is on refreshing the outdated venues and creating more quality space for Young Members. On the public side, the focus is on venue renovation and creation of new venues for different sections of the public,” said Mr Cheung.

Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said, in summary: “Overall, I am cautiously optimistic about the coming season, but competition, particularly from Macau, remains intense. In 2012, total visitors from Hong Kong to Macau amounted to 7 million people. It should be noted that recent rounds of casino investment in Macau focus not only on the VIP segment, but also on mass public casino halls and other resort-type entertainment offerings.  This highlights the importance of the Club’s investment in the public areas at our racecourses to match the offerings provided by our competitors.”

The hosting of the Asian Racing Conference in Hong Kong next May will bring 1,000 racing industry leaders from all around the world to discuss issues important to the sport’s long term development. Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges acknowledged this as a significant opportunity to reinforce Hong Kong’s presence at the forefront of world racing and for the Hong Kong Jockey Club to share with those ARC participants the results of the efforts to revitalise horse racing and make it a sustainable business.

Following the press conference, the media were given a tour to some of the new facilities at Sha Tin prior to the start of the new season, which begins on Sunday, 8 September.

Racecourse Master plan - New Venues 2013/14

1. Members

1.1  Happy Valley –Winning Post (M2 7/F) (photo 7, 8)

• Providing a comfortable environment with better settings, for a refreshed look.
• Enhancing the overall decor aim at providing our customers with a renewed environment
• Meeting with market and club’s standard and upgrade racing and betting facilities addressing needs of existing members.
• Keeping the capacity of 214 with more tables for 2 to meet customer requirement.

1.2  Happy Valley – Young Members Box (PVS 7/F) (photo 9, 10)

• A world-class standard for high quality entertainment experience supported by a proposition of fine cuisine, venue ambience, transformed racing tools & experience and superb customer service
• Appealing to and build an aspirational racing lifestyle for young members on Wednesday night
• Developing a smart, preferred and sought-after entertainment choice, a place for members to go to see and to be seen
• Facilitating racing interest cultivation, especially among guests of young members
• Private Dining with Chef’s menu of 6 courses and custom-made every week

1.3  Sha Tin – Members Betting Hall and Private Rooms (GS1 2/F) (photo 11, 12)

• Has not been upgraded for 15 years since last renovated in 1998
• Featuring large TV walls measuring 25 x 1.3 metres which provide big screen race imagery and information display, the new Members Betting Hall will be renovated to meet consumer desires for enhanced convenience and comfort, incorporating advanced technology to provide racing information in an engaging way.
• Members can get the comprehensive betting information at any time with a 20 meter long TV Wall and comfortable seats at Members Betting Hall.
• New Members Bar is dedicated to Members to discuss the upcoming races with friends.
• Four new luxury 5-star “Private Boxes” – ideal for private parties of up to 20 people – provides ample space to enjoy race day with guests and friends.

1.4  Sha Tin – Pak Hop and Box D509 to D511 (GS1 Section3 4/F & 5/F)

• Increased the indoor area with a glass line extension. Around 500 seats and adding one new private room for member’s private parties at Pak Hop.
• Box D509 to D511 can accommodate more than 300 people with International Buffet.

2. Public

2.1  Happy Valley – Happy Valley Stand 3/F (HVS 3/F) (photo 13)

• The venue is popular for corporate functions and event booking on race-days as it is the only venue which can accommodate more than 200 pax with flexible setup in Happy Valley Racecourse. It is also the official venue for HVRC sponsored races.
• The venue has not been renovated for more than 16 years.  It will provide a better entertainment environment for sponsors/ cup-races, which will upgrade the HKJC Branding to corporate customers.
• Featuring 2 large TV walls which provide big screen race imagery and information display on race-days and can also serve as backdrop for private parties or other events.

2.2  Sha Tin  - Pak Sing (GS2 5/F) (photo 14, 15)

• Has not been upgraded for 20 years since last renovated in 1993
• Revamping the restaurant for enhanced comfort for high value customers and to improve customer visits.  With enhanced atmosphere, the venue will appealing to public fans to go live racing.
• Optimizing the use of space to restore a more spacious atmosphere to further facilitate customer relationship building activities.
• Improving the spatial quality through geometry and colour.

2.3  Sha Tin – Min Ma Ting (GS2 E621-624) – Putonghua (photo 16, 17)

• First established 3 seasons ago to meet demand of Putonghua speaking tourists and customers, the boxes are very popular on race days. They are often fully booked by members and public for their guests, as well as business guests from corporate sponsors and partners of the club.
• After renovation, these boxes will provide better use of space and we aim to derive more growth from this new segment.

2.4  Sha Tin – Seasonal Boxes (GS2 E625-629) (photo 18, 19)

• By decanting existing seasonal boxes at GS1 5/F (D509-D513), upgraded business class private rooms are now available for day-let purposes to business organizations and associations at E625 to E629.
• These boxes are newly renovated with better use of space by creating sufficient capacity to seat at least 220 customers in 5 separate dining areas.

2.5  Sha Tin – The Gallery and Wins’ Cafe (GS2 2/F & 2M/F)

The Gallery (photo 20, 21)

• The establishment of The Gallery in Happy Valley racecourse is a successful trial in capturing young elites for rookies and leisure segments.  
• Deploying the concept in Happy Valley’s The Gallery to Sha Tin so as to bring in a new group of customers to the racecourse, and to further nurture their racing interests.
• Racing studio with IBU tablet tables for customers to enjoy social horse betting experience.

Seating capacity: 242

Wins’ Cafe (photo 22)

• By extending a dedicated environment and venue at the racecourse, exclusively for Priority Silver cardholders.
• Featuring a nostalgic ambience of a live racing atmosphere by highlighting the best of time in races; a good blend of the 60’s/70’s ‘Cha Chan Teng’ that are modern and trendy.  
• Comfortable seating for a full day racing with dedicated TV screen at all tables.

Seating capacity: 116

Racecourse Master Plan – Summary of Projects – season 2013/14

Customer Segment	Venue	Decoration/Theme	Completion Date
Public	HVS 3/F Happy Valley Stand 3/F	Fashionable & Stylish	Sep 2013
	GS2 5/F Pak Sing Restaurant	Upscale and Modern	Sep 2013
	GS2 6/F E621-624 Min Ma Ting	Exclusive & Grand	Sep 2013
	GS2 6/F E625-629 Seasonal Boxes	Tasteful & Elegant	Sep 2013
	GS2 2/F and 2M/F The Gallery and Wins’ Cafe	Modern day comfort, Racing Ambient	Jan 2014
Members	M2 7/F Winning Post	Exclusive & Elegant	Sep 2013
	GS1 2/F Members Betting Hall and Private Rooms	Updated comfort,     Racing Ambient for Betting Hall Premium Luxury for Private Rooms	Sep 2013
	GS1 4/F Pak Hop and 5/F D509 to D511 Glassline Extension	Extended Area	Sep 2013
	PVS 7/F Young Members Box	Lifestyle Fine Dining	Jan 2014